Chapter Six Isn't My Fault

  Yi Tianxing was unwilling to immediately agree with Zou Lelie, he had his own considerations.

  Because he didn't want to draw too much attention. He knew he was a genius... maybe it sounds a bit narcissistic, but the word "genius" in his eyes is more lovable than the words "burnt pancake". What the outcome of being a genius would be, he didn't know, but the alienation from his classmates since elementary school had unknowingly left a big scar in his heart.

  Moreover, he also knew that there were many things about himself that were different from others, which initially made him excited, but later gradually became anxious and at a loss. He always felt like an outsider in this small county town, with big differences between himself and others. He couldn't find a sense of belonging, always feeling disconnected from the world. So he started to pretend, starting from his academic performance all the way to his body.

  Every time he took a bath, he would also use the moonlight outside to carefully examine himself. As a result, no matter how much he touched and felt, he couldn't find any unusual places - where it should be soft was soft, where it should be hard was hard... but he knew that he was different from others.

  But when subjected to external forces, his body becomes very solid.

  Solidified to a very terrifying boundary.

  When he was young, he had been injured before, but the bloody wound would always heal automatically after a while, leaving a shallow gray mark. The shallow gray mark would also fade away within a few hours. He, who didn't understand worldly affairs, had foolishly asked his grandfather about it. His grandfather looked at him with a loving expression, but couldn't explain anything clearly, only mumbling something incoherent about heavenly fate.

  Later, his grandfather died and he started cooking for himself. As a clumsy child, he would often cut his fingers with the kitchen knife. However, to his surprise, he discovered that when his fingers were cut, they would emit a faint metallic color, transforming into an invulnerable and strange finger tip, resistant to knives and guns. He then found out that his body was also highly resistant to injuries, as if there was always something protecting him from the outside. On the night he discovered this secret about his body, he sat foolishly at his doorstep, staring at the stars in the sky, thinking for an entire evening. Then, he began to engage in a frenzy of self-mutilation, using any sharp object he could find in the house to stab himself on his arms and chest. However, all that was left on his body were numerous small greyish-white spots, which, as expected, gradually faded away within hours.

  The little kid was greatly shocked and couldn't help but feel a bit dizzy. He ran to the large courtyard of the Agricultural Bureau opposite his small black room, and walked up the stairs in the dark lobby building from the second floor, jumping down without incident. Then on the third floor, fourth floor... until he jumped down from the highest fifth floor, he felt a little dizzy, possibly due to the intense shock.

  But his body was unscathed.

  "Get out!"

  In the courtyard of the Agricultural Bureau, after shouting out this dirty word at the starry night sky, he resigned himself to his fate. He acknowledged his monstrous fate.

  It was from that day on that he began to stand high and gaze out at the crowds all around... not physically standing tall, but rather having positioned himself in his heart as a pitiful monster.

  From that day on, Yi Tianxing became the infamous trash in school. He was bullied by others and never fought back. The reason is simple: who has ever seen a big man holding a kitchen knife chasing after an ant that once crawled under his feet?

  The next morning, Yi Tianxing brushed his teeth, sniffed the clothes on his body to confirm that there was no particularly strong smell, then took out a towel and carefully wiped his rusty 28-inch bicycle clean before heading to school.

  They were in the first class of the third year, and their classroom was on the easternmost side of the third floor. Outside the window was a paulownia tree in the schoolyard. Yi Tianxing's seat was by the window, so when he got bored, he would often stare at the leaves and branches of the paulownia tree, which changed color with the seasons. Suddenly, as he was spacing out, he felt something flying towards him. His unusual physique wasn't just reflected in his incredibly strong body; his reaction speed was also extremely sharp. Before he could even process what it was, his body had already reacted instinctively. He stretched out his right palm and firmly grasped the thing in his hand.

  Apart from him, all the other classmates knew what it was, and when they saw him grasp that thing so neatly and efficiently, they couldn't help but let out a soft cry of surprise. This soft cry was naturally saying how handsome he was. At that time, Chow Sing Chi was at the height of his popularity, and "Drunken Master" was every student's favorite. Suddenly seeing him use such a cool move, it was only natural to bring about thunderous applause.

  Yi Tian Xing unknowingly looked down at his own hands.

  "Blackboard brush?"

  He smiled wryly, having caught all the teachers' favorite teacher-only weapon, it seemed that he was about to be subjected to a Lion's Roar attack by the teachers.

  "Easy does it!" Mr. Yuan, the politics teacher and class advisor, finally rushed over, his triangular eyes gleaming with class hatred under his black-framed glasses, his flat mouth opening and closing non-stop as all sorts of aggressive language spewed out.

  "How can you be so irresponsible... How can you be so irresponsible... skipping class and being lazy, how can you be so irresponsible..."

  Yi Tianxing looked at the class teacher with an innocent face, but his ears were automatically filtering out the words, and the last few key words he heard were probably: parents, teachers, country, party, etc.

  He shook his head, but there was no impatience on his face. He just quietly looked at the teacher who was talking like a torrent of water from Mount Lu.

  The teacher's surname is Yuan, and his ancestral home is in a certain place in Ezhong, Longquan. His family was poor, but he was the first person from the village to attend university, which made him quite proud of himself. He once said that on the day he left the village to study at the provincial city's university, all the villagers came out to see him off, and the village head even collected money to give him a watch as a gift.

  Yi Tianxing sighed and knew that Mr. Yuan was going to say those words again, so he quickly stood up and honestly said: "I know I was wrong."

  Mr. Yuan looked at him with disdain and said, "If you can change, even a sow will climb a tree."

  The whole class burst into laughter, and Yi Tianxing caught a glimpse of Zou Lelie's face with some unbearable color, and couldn't help but smile at her to comfort her.

  Teacher Yuan saw that he was still smiling at this time, and he was even more furious, his whole body trembling with rage. He pointed to his nose with his index finger and scolded: "Do you have the face to smile? Just like someone like you, in the future, it will be a life of picking up scraps!"

  The classmates exclaimed in surprise, no one expected the teacher would say such hurtful words.

  It turned out that Yi Tianxing was still smiling on his face, looking at the class teacher who was about the same height as himself, and said in a low voice: "I was originally picking up trash to make a living, what's wrong with that? Even if I pick up trash in the future, it doesn't matter. I won't be like some people, supported by the whole village to read university, and then run to other cities to enjoy life, forgetting about my fellow villagers."

  Mr. Yuan was taken aback, and his face suddenly turned pale with rage, ready to scold him severely, but unexpectedly, Yi Tianxing blinked his eyes and smiled sweetly, saying: "Mr. Yuan, that watch the village head gave you back then, did you wear it or throw it away? Why haven't I seen you wearing it?"

  The boys in the class burst out laughing and started teasing each other.

  Teacher Yuan slammed his hand on the desk and turned around to leave the classroom.

  "Great, Trash King." Said Zhao Jing, the female classmate sitting in front of Yi Tianxing's desk, who was usually annoyed by this head teacher.

  Yitian smiled and didn't want to chat with the students around him, glanced at Zou Leilei, sat down, took out "The Sentimental Swordsman" from under the table. This book was borrowed from the county library last week, although it's free, but after the deadline, a storage fee will be charged, so he had to hurry up and read it.

  After the bell rang, two boys from another class were shouting at the back door of the classroom: "Is Yi Tianhang here?"

  Yi Tianxing withdrew his gaze from the book and responded with a hint of puzzlement, "I am." He thought to himself, could it be that the class teacher had reported him to the school?

  As he walked out of the classroom, those two male students looked him up and down with disdain and sneered: "You're that trash collector?"

  Yi Tian Xing glanced at them sideways and said, "Yes, I won't choose you."

  The male classmates in our class who were watching what happened shouted again and laughed: "Ragged King, you are so handsome today that you have dropped your dregs."

  "What are you laughing at!" The two boys lost face and shouted: "It's Wei Ge who wants to find him."

  As soon as they heard the words "Wei Ge", the boys in the class suddenly became cicadas in winter, not even daring to breathe. Only a tall and thin boy sitting in the front row coldly threw out a sentence: "Who are you trying to scare?"

  Those two boys hastily said: "Hu Yun, this has nothing to do with you."

  Yi Tian Xing smiled wryly and walked out of the classroom door.